1 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to save our production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: I'm Any Rees and I'm Lauren voc Obam, and today 3 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:16,759 Speaker 1: we've got a classic episode for you about Vanilla. Yes, 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: because I am jet setting off to Montreal, where I 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: think the temperature is tin actual degrees fahrenheit, So perfect timing. 6 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: I'm excited. Yeah, yeah, I mean you're gonna want some 7 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: warm and toasty baked goods while you're there, That's true. 8 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: So if any listeners have any suggestions, you can send 9 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: them my way. Absolutely. Oh always always send us food 10 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: suggestions for wherever you are. Yes, always welcome. It's olcome 11 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: when we were doing our like what's going on in 12 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: the world of Vanilla. One of the news items I 13 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: found relates to a recent episode on pancakes. I up 14 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: how introduced the line of cereal based pancakes, most of 15 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: which come with vanilla syrup. Okay, oh man, you've got 16 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: so many options. I think that's almost tin options, Magical 17 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: Marshmallow Kids, Combo, cinnamon toast crunch, milkshake, fruity Lucky Charms pancakes. 18 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: So are there like chunks of cereal in the pancakes? 19 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: I don't want that's on the top Oh, it's on 20 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: the top. It's like a topping and that's fine, in 21 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,759 Speaker 1: between the stacks of the pancakes themselves. Okay, that's fine. 22 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: Or I mean, I don't know do what you want 23 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: with your pancakes. I can't tell you what to do. 24 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: We have no authority in that realm, are very very 25 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: little at any rate. Um yeah, I could. I couldn't 26 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: really find any updated vanilla numbers. We first did this 27 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: episode back in and the vanilla market was in quite 28 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: a flux, as you will here in this episode. Um 29 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: but yeah, from a brief google, I mean, I found 30 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 1: a headline about Vanilla ICE's ex wife and like alimony 31 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: payments or something. But I do not have the most 32 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: direct interest to this our food podcast. No, but it 33 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: was definitely a thorn in my side doing the research 34 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: for this. I remember, so thanks, but no thanks, Vanilla. 35 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: I need my food facts. Well, speaking of those, yes, 36 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: a former Lauren and Annie have have quite a few 37 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: of them, so we will let them take it away. Hello, 38 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: and welcome to food Stuff. I'm Annie Reeves and I'm 39 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: Lauren vogel Bomb and this is our not so Vanilla 40 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: Vanilla episode. That's right, We're tackling vanilla, and we're going 41 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: to talk about why vanilla has got kind of a 42 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: bad connotation to it as being born and plant. Right, 43 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: it's not at all. No, no, nobody, and thank you too, 44 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: listener Gina for suggesting. She also sent in a book suggestion, 45 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: Vanilla queen. We really need to start up the food 46 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: Stuff Book Club. Oh yeah, our our list of books 47 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: is long and ever growing. Yeah, because I don't read 48 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: about food enough. No, let's definitely start a book. Oh 49 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: it would be delightful though. Okay, alright, So vanilla, yes first, yes, 50 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: Oh indeed, and most importantly, it's the flavor of America's 51 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: favorite ice cream. Yeah, which I found a little surprising. 52 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: But according to the International ice Cream Association, So I 53 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: guess they would know. Of americans favorite vanilla followed by 54 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,839 Speaker 1: chocolate with an eight point nine per cent. I guess 55 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: it's spread after after vanilla. Many categories of ice cream flavor. 56 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: My favorite, if I had to choose a general one 57 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: is chocolate, and my little brothers was vanilla. And will 58 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: you see it in some pretty serious arguments about it, 59 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: because I'd be trying to convince him why he was 60 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: wrong like that, you're just frong chocolate involves vanilla flavoring, 61 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: and it's also got chocolate flavor exactly right. It's science. 62 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: It's it's scientifically proven that you're wrong, Bobby, if you're listening. 63 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: Um So, vanilla, it's a species of the orchid family. 64 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: The bean itself comes from a seed pot of the 65 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,839 Speaker 1: evergreen climbing orchids that sort of looked like vines. Bonds 66 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: that can reach up to one and five ft are 67 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 1: thirty two meters. Yeah. The kind of getting stores specifically 68 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: comes from one of three species, the largest share being 69 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: vanilla plant foila a k. Mexican or bourbon vanilla. But 70 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: you can find vanilla to heat, nous a ka to 71 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: heat vanilla, and sometimes vanilla pompona a k a West 72 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: Indian vanilla. About three fourths of vanilla we by today 73 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: comes from Madagascar and Reyjon, which is an island off 74 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,919 Speaker 1: the coast of Madagascar. It used to be named Bourbon 75 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 1: Hance bourbon vanilla. That's why I have always wondered that 76 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:03,040 Speaker 1: it also does have a little bit of a bourbony 77 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: flavor to it. Yeah, it kind of does. Most of 78 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: the rest of our vanilla supply comes from Mexico and Tahiti. Yeah. 79 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: The main flavor compound in vanilla is called vanilla, and 80 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: it can be created in labs pretty cheaply and easily. 81 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: But there are over two hundred and fifty flavor and 82 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: aroma compounds in vanilla pods. Experts talk about Vanilla's TAROI yeah, 83 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: so much to are happening in these episodes. There are 84 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: Tahitian vanilla has notes of cherry florals, smoke, and marshmallow. 85 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: Madagascar vanilla has notes of rum and bourbon, prunes and wood, 86 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: and Mexican is a little bit more subtle of a vanilla. 87 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,039 Speaker 1: It's got notes of wood, spice and nutmeg and McCormick. 88 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: I'm sure most of you have heard of this. It's 89 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,040 Speaker 1: like that company, one of the brands of spices and stuff. Yeah, 90 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: and they sell vanilla and they have a chart of 91 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: vanilla tasting chart and it's like big Wheel. And I 92 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: spent far too much time reading like all of the descriptions, 93 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: and I mean, vanilla tasting. Why is that not a thing? 94 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: It can it be a thing? Let's make it a thing. Okay, 95 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 1: there aren't too many orchids you can eat, but this 96 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: happens to be one of them. It's a bit sensitive 97 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: of a plant as well. It needs to be in 98 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: a tropical or sub chocoal climate. Like seriously, it's not 99 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: able to grow ten to twenty degrees north or south 100 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: of the equator, or it's only able to grow there. Yes, 101 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: otherwise that would be like a lot of vanilla. You know, 102 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: we're looking at the different, the opposite problem. It's native 103 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,159 Speaker 1: to the Caribbean and parts of South and Central America, 104 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 1: and the blooming season last a couple of months, with 105 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: a handful of fragile flowers of green or yellow or 106 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: white blossoming each day. The flowers are so fragile that 107 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: they can only be pollinated naturally in the wild by 108 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: a species of many pond b are possibly the eu 109 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: glossin bees. These are tiny little bee and maybe birds 110 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: can pollinate them too, but either way, these pollinators only 111 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 1: exist in Mexico, which means that vanilla beans grown elsewhere 112 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: must be hand pollinated. They are very often hand pollinated 113 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: in Mexico to to ensure production quantities. Some expert farmers 114 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: say that as few as five of the flowers on 115 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: any given plant should be pollinated in order to achieve 116 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: the best quality fruit. Mm hm oh. And did we 117 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: mention the flower is only open one day a year, 118 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: one day year, one morning a year. In fact, yes, 119 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: the flowers closed by the afternoon. And if they weren't 120 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: pollinated in that too, any time, any window so long, 121 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: they just fall off and die. Yeah, yeah, no fruit, 122 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: it's wild to me. Yeah that the flowers themselves, by 123 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: the way, are very neutral y scented. Yes. The fruit part, 124 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: as the name pod implies, looks forty pod like, reaching 125 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: up to eight inches or twenty centem years, generally over 126 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: a month to a month and a half long on period, 127 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: but it could be much longer, like nine months. Um. 128 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: Farmers harvest them when they're an unniped greenish goldish color, 129 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: and at that point they're pretty bland. Their their flavor 130 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: and characteristic rich brown color is developed during this whole 131 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: post harvest curing process that depends on heat and enzymes 132 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: in the beans and bacteria poop maybe, oh, Lauren all 133 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: every time, it's exciting, okay, so um. After vanilla beans 134 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:36,679 Speaker 1: are harvested, they go through this production process of cooking, sweating, drying, 135 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: and curing, and growers around the world have developed different methods, 136 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: but but basically first You sort the pods by length, 137 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: then soak them in hot water or expose them to 138 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: heavy sunlight to reach an internal temperature of about sixty 139 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: five degrees celsius or that's about a hundred and fifty 140 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: degrees fahrenheit. To kill the beans um, stopping any potential 141 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: growth processes and killing off most bacteria or fungi that 142 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: might be floating around in there. Um. Then sweat them, 143 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: meaning you keep the beans hot and not too dry 144 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,439 Speaker 1: and well covered at around like fifty degrees celsius a 145 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: k ae fahrenheit. This let's a number of ensmatic processes 146 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: begin to happen inside the beans. Their cellular structures begin 147 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: breaking down. It also allows a few heat tolerant bacteria 148 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: to thrive. You then dry the beans out very very slowly. 149 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: You want them to decrease to about fift of their 150 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,080 Speaker 1: original water weight. Depending on their size and quality, and 151 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: depending on the farming traditions, This may be done by 152 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,559 Speaker 1: setting the beans out in the sun for a single 153 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: hour every day. It's really intensive. The final step is 154 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: conditioning or curing the beans by keeping them warm and 155 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: kind of slightly humid, and this continues the flavor and 156 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: aroma development. Process. Once they're cured, venlo beans can keep 157 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: for like two to ten years, depending on how careful 158 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,200 Speaker 1: you are about it, and all of this research is 159 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: being done into the role of those heat resistant bacteria 160 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 1: in the development of these flavors. Um Tests and cultures 161 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: taken from a few different bean processors around the world 162 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 1: have found differing populations of bacteria, but a few strains 163 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:19,559 Speaker 1: of Baccyllus were commonly dominant, and scientists think that the 164 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: bacteria player role in helping break down cellular structures of 165 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: the vanilla beans, thus releasing some of the compounds or 166 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: precurses precurses to the compounds that give vanilla all of 167 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 1: its flavor and aroma um. The bacteria might also help 168 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: process some of those precursors into their final forms, and 169 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,320 Speaker 1: they might help keep the temperature of the curing beans 170 00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: warm enough to prevent the growth of unwanted fungi and bacteria. 171 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,599 Speaker 1: The whole shebang takes like five to eight months and 172 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 1: is just super person nickety um. These traditional manual methods 173 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,720 Speaker 1: are still used by many farmers and production firms, mixed 174 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: in with a little bit of like modern sterilization and 175 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: climate control technologies. Depending on the size and the swagger 176 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,679 Speaker 1: of the operation. Um, you have to keep careful track 177 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: of each individual vanilla bean pods development like any sign 178 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: of mold growth will send a being all way back 179 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 1: to the killing stage. My goodness, because of all the 180 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 1: time and work vanilla takes. It's the second costliest spice 181 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: at around pound. First. Oh, I'm glad you're asked. It's saffron. Oh, 182 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: of course, saffron. Of course, whole other episode. Vanilla powder 183 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,079 Speaker 1: is what you get after grinding whole vanilla beans, and 184 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,680 Speaker 1: vanilla extract is chopped up and macerated beans aged in 185 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,959 Speaker 1: solution to bring out the flavor. According to the FDA, 186 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: to qualify as pure vanilla extract, there needs to be 187 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: thirteen point three five ounces of vanilla beans for every 188 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: gallon while extraction is happening in alcohol. That primary flavor compound, 189 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:59,959 Speaker 1: vanilla makes up only one too of any given vanilla bean. 190 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: Most of this processing happens in factories outside of the 191 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: countries that actually produce vanilla, which has traditionally meant that 192 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 1: the farmers who do the bulk of the labor see 193 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: a minority of the profits. That's starting to change, but 194 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: it is slow going. Unfortunately, thanks in part to the 195 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: need to add flavor to low carb or low fat 196 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: products and in part because we just love it. Vanilla 197 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: are vanilla flavoring, to be more precise, is in over 198 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: eighteen thousand products worldwide. Yeah, and about that flavoring thing, Yeah, 199 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: bolt products with vanilla in the name. You know, your 200 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: vanilla wayfers, your vanilla putting, even your cheap vanilla vodka. 201 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 1: They don't contain the real thing. No, orchids were harmed 202 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: in the making of those products. That's in part, at 203 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: least because the labor intensiveness and priceiness of vanilla, which 204 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,320 Speaker 1: means we don't actually produce a whole lot of it. 205 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,719 Speaker 1: About two thousand metric tons may sound like a lot 206 00:12:57,760 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 1: in the face of vanilla demand, it really isn't that 207 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:04,160 Speaker 1: the ethetic stuff We produce over twenty metric tons of 208 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:09,680 Speaker 1: that a year. The balance between naturally and synthetically sourced 209 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: vanilla is changing, though, due to that whole marketing and 210 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: or consumer pushed towards all natural ingredients. In the past 211 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: five years, consumer interest has pushed huge companies like Nestlee 212 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,839 Speaker 1: and Hershey's to switch back to naturally sourced vanillen, which 213 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: has driven the cost of vanilla beans up to more 214 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:31,559 Speaker 1: than ten times what it used to be. Invitation. Vanilla, 215 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: by the way, is entirely composed of the ever mysterious 216 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: artificial flavorings. Okay, okay, So in vanilla beans, you get 217 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: a molecule of vanilla by breaking down a sugary molecule 218 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: of of gluco vanillen, But there are lots of other 219 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 1: ways to get the same molecule. You can use easter 220 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,559 Speaker 1: bacteria to to ferment, like an oil from cloves or 221 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: this acid from rice brand. If they're fed one of 222 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: these things, these specialized and often proprietary microorganism basically poop 223 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 1: vanillen um. Those are considered natural vanillen. You can also 224 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: heat and pressure treat and alcohol that comes from spruce 225 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: trees to produce vanillen. As of the nineteen nineties, a 226 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: lot of the world's vanlan was actually a byproduct of 227 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: the wood, pulp and paper industries. Uh. And you can 228 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: synthesize vanilin in a lab using an oil that's a 229 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: byproduct of the petroleum industry. Those last two are considered artificial, 230 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: and the petroleum version is the cheapest of the lot 231 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 1: by far. Especially since wooden paper industries have been working 232 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: to reduce waste over the past couple decades. Um. I 233 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: was reading ahead in the outline, and I'm very glad. 234 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: I was hoping that you would answer this question. Okay, alright, So, 235 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: so I heard that the artificial stuff is made from 236 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: beaver butt glands. Is that true? Is it? No? Well 237 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: there you go. Well, okay, well, it is true that 238 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: beavers produce a kind of vanilla scented substance in a 239 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 1: gland near the base of your tails. But believe it 240 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: or not, it's not actually financially viable to milk beaver 241 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 1: glands at a rate that would satisfy the world's interesting flavoring. 242 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: I know, weird them. This This stuff is called castoreum, 243 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 1: and beavers use it to mark their territory and to 244 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 1: impress humans by smelling just absolutely lovely. Beaver smell really nice. 245 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 1: I had no idea me neither. Castorium did see some 246 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: used in the eighteen hundreds as a perfume ingredient and 247 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: occasional food additive, especially during the time when beaver fur 248 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: was just all the rage in fashion, and so they 249 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: were thus being hunted in large numbers and It does 250 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: still show up sometimes in the fragrance industry, but it's 251 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: pretty uncommon. Well, there you go, question answered. I'm sure 252 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: all of you are waiting to know. Yes, in ice cream, 253 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 1: which actually does play a big part in the story 254 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: of vanilla, apart from the silly pole we wanted to 255 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: throw in there. Um, tastesters can tell the difference between 256 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,960 Speaker 1: vanilla and vanilla the form are being more distinct and 257 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: flavorful than the ladder, which often ended up with the 258 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: descriptor bland or non distinct attached to it. However, and 259 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: things like cakes that are heated, tasters generally couldn't tell 260 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: the difference. Yeah. Oh, and I did want to put 261 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: in here that vanilla ice cream is one of the 262 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 1: few products here in the US that the FDA says 263 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: must contain natural vanilla if it doesn't want to have 264 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: to specify artificial vanilla and its name. I was at 265 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: the grocery store today and I noticed this, and also 266 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: so many things claiming to have flex of vanilla beans 267 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: in there. Anyway, Uh, the US, with our notorious sweet tooth, 268 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: is the largest importer of vanilla. On average five point 269 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: four grahams a person which comes out to sixty eight 270 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: million vanilla beans a year. Yeah, okay, so that's a lot. 271 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: That's the intro. Yeah, oh welcome. This is one of 272 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: those long and twisty outlines that it's like, oh goodness, 273 00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: you never know, we're not I will take you. Yeah, well, 274 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: except we do know where it's going to take us. Well, 275 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:03,440 Speaker 1: first of all, because we wrote it. And second of 276 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: all because right now it's taking us towards a quick 277 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:18,920 Speaker 1: break for a word from our sponsors, and we're back. 278 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:24,160 Speaker 1: Thank you sponsored. All right, well, let's let's look at 279 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: the history of vanilla. It's it's hard to pin down. 280 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: It's a difficult one. Yeah, because vanillan does not leave 281 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: behind a chemical residue like chocolate does. Thank you chocolate. Um. 282 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:39,640 Speaker 1: That being said, here's what historians have pieced together about 283 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:44,640 Speaker 1: vanilla's history. So, the Maya in the southeast of Mexico 284 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,199 Speaker 1: and Central America were the first to grow vanilla for 285 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 1: use as a cacao flavoring as as far back as 286 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:55,920 Speaker 1: six thousand BC. That's mostly for for cocoa as a 287 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: drink sweetened with honey, and researchers think that vanilla was 288 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: originally reserved for people of very high political position. They 289 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:07,880 Speaker 1: put ground up vanilla orchid and necklaces to ward off 290 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: illness or other bad health stuff. They used it as 291 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: a fragrance, stimulant and insector pill in a medicine, mixed 292 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,640 Speaker 1: it with copal resin and burned it as an incense, 293 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: and of course in aphrodisiac obviously obviously. However, the Totonac 294 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,679 Speaker 1: people in Vera Cruz, Mexico are often cited as the 295 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,880 Speaker 1: first to cultivate banilla beans and to figure out that 296 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:33,640 Speaker 1: they became more flavorful when sweated, primarily for medicinal use. 297 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 1: When the Aztecs took over the Totonac in the fifteenth century, 298 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: the Totenac were forced to pay tribute to the Aztecs 299 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:43,680 Speaker 1: in the form of thousands and thousands of vanilla beans, 300 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: which they called black flower after what happens to the 301 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: flower once the fruit is harvested. Unlike the Totenknak, the 302 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 1: Aztec used vanilla for flavor, especially in the chocolate drink 303 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,560 Speaker 1: that they called chuckle Attle. Did I say that correctly? 304 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:03,160 Speaker 1: I think so saw it. The Totana believed that vanilla 305 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: was a gift from the gods and a source of 306 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,000 Speaker 1: eternal happiness. Their mythology included the tale of how the 307 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,399 Speaker 1: vanilla or kid came to be That go something like this. 308 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: Once about the time Princess Donut fell head over heels 309 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: in love. Her father refused to allow her allow her 310 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,720 Speaker 1: to marry said love, however, on accounts of him being 311 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:28,640 Speaker 1: a puny mortal, so the couple eloped. No nattier not 312 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,880 Speaker 1: good because they both were captured in Their heads were 313 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,119 Speaker 1: chopped clean off, their blood soaked into the earth, and 314 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: from that spot grew the first vanilla orchid. The Tota 315 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: saw it as their duty to take care of and 316 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: protect these vines and to make them productive through the 317 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: marriage of vanilla, which is a more pleasant way of 318 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,399 Speaker 1: saying collination. That's a lovely myth. Yeah, well, I mean, 319 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: I mean there's heads getting chopped off. I mean, not 320 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: for the two people involved, but it's sort of sweet, yeah, yeah, 321 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: kind of. When this banish arrived in fifteen nineteen, frequent 322 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,159 Speaker 1: food stuff cameo. Hernan Cortez ran into it at Vera Cruz, 323 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: and he also ran into the Totonac. Some sources say 324 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,280 Speaker 1: that Montezuma served Cortez Cacao in fifteen twenty, while others 325 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:17,200 Speaker 1: say that the Totonac teamed up the Spanish to overthrow 326 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:22,640 Speaker 1: the Aztecs. Either way, Vanilla's name comes from Spanish vanilla, 327 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:27,880 Speaker 1: which translates to little pod or in Latin vagina. There's 328 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 1: actually a lot of references to vagina, including the nine months, 329 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: the possible nine months it takes. Yeah. Yeah, anyway, well 330 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:39,639 Speaker 1: I think they come back to that, okay, perfect um. 331 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,880 Speaker 1: Around this time, vanilla was introduced to Asia and Africa 332 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,879 Speaker 1: courtesy of the Spanish and Portuguese. And by introduced to 333 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 1: we almost certainly mean smuggled out to because yeah, a 334 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 1: lot of the Mexican people were trying to keep a 335 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,880 Speaker 1: lockdown on that kind of thing. Yes, they absolutely were. 336 00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:00,920 Speaker 1: Cortez brought vanilla back with him to Europe, and in Teene, 337 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:04,440 Speaker 1: the first written description of vanilla was pinned by Bernardino 338 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: de Sahagun and Bernard Diaz. Europeans were totally into adding 339 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,360 Speaker 1: vanilla in to hot chocolate as a replacement for cinnamon 340 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,400 Speaker 1: once they accepted hot chocolate, which did take a minute. Yeah, 341 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,680 Speaker 1: one Spanish fellow dubbed it a drink for pigs. Oh, 342 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 1: I know, it's just hot chocolate. That's such strong emotion. 343 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: They also mixed it with tobacco, and you say it 344 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:30,920 Speaker 1: as a nurse stimulant and surprise and apphronusiac. Some historians 345 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: think partly due to the vagina Latin root word, which 346 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:37,479 Speaker 1: is the saddest reason ever to use something as an appronusiac. Yeah, well, 347 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,359 Speaker 1: I guess it's not the satis reason. Never, it's not 348 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 1: a great reason. It's not very well founded. In sixteen 349 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: o two, with hopes of appeasing Queen Elizabeth, the first 350 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: sweet tooth, her apothecary and head of the apothecary, Hugh Morgan, 351 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: came up with sweetmeats flavored solely with vanilla. Queen Elizabeth 352 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: I loved, which meant that other people wanted to try them, 353 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 1: which led to vanilla spreading throughout Europe. Alcoholic beverages, tobacco, 354 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,399 Speaker 1: and perfumes got the vanilla treatment in seventeen hundreds. In 355 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,199 Speaker 1: seventeen fifty four we get the first recorded use of 356 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: the word vanilla from botanist Philip Miller's book The Gardener's Dictionary. 357 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:21,399 Speaker 1: A little less than ten years later, in seventeen sixty two, 358 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: a German physician named Bazaar Zimmerman published a work that 359 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,360 Speaker 1: claimed that after a three and forty two impotent men 360 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:32,880 Speaker 1: drank vanilla, they quote changed into astonishing lovers of at 361 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: least as many women. M hmm, interesting study. Yeah, it 362 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,159 Speaker 1: was so popular as an aphrodisiac. It's it was like 363 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:45,919 Speaker 1: the one for a long time, you know. That's also 364 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: if we were kind of plotting a food stuff bingo 365 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: card and uh oh yeah, and I think aphrodisiac has 366 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: to be on there. Absolutely does. Around eighteen hundred, a 367 00:22:56,359 --> 00:23:00,879 Speaker 1: French priest smuggled an orchid out of Mexico, Yes, smuggle intrigue. 368 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: Spanish controlled Nextico had a monopoly on vanilla and the 369 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,239 Speaker 1: plants were under an export ban, but this guy got 370 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:10,440 Speaker 1: him out to Tahiti and from there the French would 371 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: try to cultivate them in multiple locations throughout the Pacific 372 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:18,359 Speaker 1: and Indian oceans. Vanilla intrigue. And this brings us to 373 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:22,440 Speaker 1: someone else who makes a frequent cameo and food stuff episodes. 374 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,680 Speaker 1: But first, one last break for a word from our sponsor. 375 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 1: Then we're back. Thank you sponsoring. Yes, so you'll never 376 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 1: guess who's coming up again. Oh you probably will. It's 377 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:47,679 Speaker 1: Thomas Jefferson. Oh yeah, yep, and his mini galivants across France, 378 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: he encountered ice cream flavored with vanilla, which had by 379 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 1: then spread to much of Europe with the help of 380 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth the First. Jefferson loved the stuff so much 381 00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: he even wrote down a recipe for vanilla ice cream 382 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,199 Speaker 1: fairly similar to how we make it today that you 383 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 1: can find in the library of congress Man Jefferson brought 384 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:08,400 Speaker 1: back waffles and vanilla ice cream and wine jellies from France. 385 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 1: He's I like, despite a number of other things, I 386 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:16,120 Speaker 1: would have totally gone to his parties, like a waffle 387 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: for all, like with vanilla ice cream on the side 388 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: and some wine jellies to help you loosen up a bit. Yeah, 389 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: that's a lot of sugar, but it'd be fun at first. Yes, 390 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:27,679 Speaker 1: you know, he didn't have Netflix back then. You had 391 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: to make your own fun. It's true. Also, he got 392 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,360 Speaker 1: the pods from Paris, but they probably originally came from 393 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:39,399 Speaker 1: Central America. So yeah. In eighteen o five, Vanilla pops 394 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: up and its first cookbook, and it's one we've talked 395 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:45,400 Speaker 1: about before, Hannah Glasses, the odch of Cookery. It basically 396 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:47,399 Speaker 1: called for adding vanilla to hot chocolate and if you're 397 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,480 Speaker 1: seeing a theme here, vanilla and chocolate, vanilla and hot chocolate. 398 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: It was used to cut like the bitterness, right right, Yeah. 399 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: It was a popular way to cut the bitterness without 400 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: needing to add too much sugar exactly, which was expensive. 401 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: Right U. Another cookbook we've mentioned, Mary Randolph's eighteen twenty four, 402 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,359 Speaker 1: The Virgin Housewife. It's not the Virgin Housewife. It is 403 00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: the Virginia Housewife. I just have a aphrodisiac on the brain. 404 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: It came with the first written American recipe for vanilla 405 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 1: ice cream, and Europeans, of course for attempting to grow 406 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:19,640 Speaker 1: their own vanilla, but they found the seeds they produced 407 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: weren't flavorful due to the totonac successfully keeping the process 408 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: of curing a secret, and also because the bee needed 409 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: for vanilla pollination could be found in Europe, or at 410 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 1: least the bee we think needed for vanilla poll nation um. 411 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,639 Speaker 1: Europe's increasing demand for vanilla, which they nicknamed chocolate drug, 412 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:40,879 Speaker 1: caused a depletion of wild vanilla, and as a result, 413 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: the total Na built vanilla farms in the seventeen sixties. 414 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,880 Speaker 1: All of these things allowed them to maintain their position 415 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,560 Speaker 1: as the primary producer of vanilla. From the seventeen sixties 416 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: to the eighteen forties. Europeans were determined, however, to find 417 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 1: a way to cultivate their own flavorful of vanilla. In 418 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 1: eighteen nineteen, some Frenchmen sent vanilla beans to the French 419 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 1: controlled Reunion on and Mauritius Islands, crossing their fingers would 420 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:06,440 Speaker 1: go there. Years later, in forty one, on the island 421 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:11,560 Speaker 1: of Reunion, twelve year old slave Edmund Albius figured out 422 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:17,359 Speaker 1: hand pollination. Jean Michel Claude Richard, a famous French botanist, 423 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:22,920 Speaker 1: immediately to credit immediately for teaching Albius this method of uh, 424 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: and in later recountings of the story some papers claimed 425 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:31,440 Speaker 1: Albius was white. When slavory was abolished in eighteen forty eight, 426 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:36,679 Speaker 1: an impoverished Albius died soon after, so he didn't make 427 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:41,359 Speaker 1: any money off of what was basically like the invention 428 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:46,439 Speaker 1: that made vanilla possible. Right. This also means that possibly 429 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,439 Speaker 1: most of our vanilla supply can be traced back to 430 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:52,160 Speaker 1: that first cutting of a vanilla orchid from Paris's Jordan 431 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 1: d plant, possibly which is cool to think. The discovery 432 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,439 Speaker 1: of hand poll nation was the catalyst. First several things. First, 433 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: it toppled Mexico's monopoly of the vanilla trade. Second, the 434 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: French sent vanilla orchids, first to the Comoros Islands and 435 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 1: then to Madagascar with instructions and how to cultivate them. 436 00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 1: The production of vanilla in these locations sailed past Mexico's 437 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: by eighteen seventy nine, and it only took until eighteen 438 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,240 Speaker 1: ninety eight for them to supply of the world's vanilla 439 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 1: two hundred metric tons worth. There were other factors that 440 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,320 Speaker 1: contributed to Mexico's loss of their lead in the trade. 441 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,760 Speaker 1: Around that time, its coastal rainforests were being stripped bare 442 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 1: by the tropical wood industry. A cedar and mahogany trees 443 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 1: were part of vanilla orchids natural climbing habitat, and suddenly 444 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: all that was gone. Yeah, and this just so happened 445 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,880 Speaker 1: to coincide with an exponential increase in demand for vanilla 446 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,359 Speaker 1: as its solidified its place as the preferred ice cream flavor, 447 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:54,160 Speaker 1: and with the eight six introduction of a little beverage 448 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,400 Speaker 1: you might have heard of, Coca cola. What it's part 449 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 1: of that secret recipe it is, it's one of the 450 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: few things so is cinnamon. Uh one of the few 451 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,320 Speaker 1: things that they will admit is in there. Yep. The 452 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:11,120 Speaker 1: esteemed brain tonic and intellectual beverage called for vanilla. Vanilla 453 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 1: was added to all kinds of things as the availability 454 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: of it increased. Stepping back a bit, Joseph Burnett soaked 455 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 1: some vanilla beans and grain, alcohol and water in eighteen 456 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,680 Speaker 1: forty seven and got vanilla extract, and German scientists isolated 457 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: the first synthetic vanilla that vanilla in eighteen seventy four 458 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: from cheaper sources like common Yeah. Sure, yeah whatever. Um. 459 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: In a case of too little, too late, the Academy 460 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: of Sciences and Gastronomic Arts recognized the total knock for 461 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: their role in bringing vanilla and the process behind cultivating 462 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 1: it to the world in oh, I mean yeah, they 463 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,440 Speaker 1: did really good job keeping it hidden for a while. Um. 464 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:02,440 Speaker 1: By some estimates, by the time Yo came around, of 465 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: all ice cream in the US was vanilla. Oh wow. Yeah. 466 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: A typhoon allowed to a substantial increase in vanilla's market 467 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: price in the seventies, a price level they maintained untild. 468 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: The cartel that had controlled vanilla's pricing and distribution of 469 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 1: vanilla since the nineteen thirties fell apart in n That 470 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: cartel was toppled by the International Monetary Fund and an 471 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 1: effort to boost global competition and vanilla intrigue. Indeed, prices 472 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: fell in the following years to twenty dollars a kilo 473 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: a se decrease. This changed when market factors like the 474 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: boom in premium ice creams by companies like Ben and 475 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 1: Jerry's and Hagandah's caused demand to increase some fifty pcent 476 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:50,160 Speaker 1: from nineteen nine through two thousand. Uh. This was immediately 477 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: followed by another typhoon. Another typhoon struck in two thousand, 478 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: coupled with political instability and regions that grew vanilla and 479 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: bad weather in general. All this caused the price of 480 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 1: vanilla to shoot up to five hundred dollars sequilo and 481 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:09,400 Speaker 1: two thousand four. By two five, the prizes back down 482 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 1: to forty dollars quilo due to a number of factors 483 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: like more countries trying their hand at vanilla production and 484 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 1: increased demand for imitation vanilla. But as you can see, 485 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: this is a product subject to some serious pricing fluctuation. 486 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and that's actually been particularly intense in the 487 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: past few years because the demand for artificial vanillen um 488 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 1: and also taxation of natural vanilla by the government was 489 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: so great during the nineteen nineties that orchid farmers in 490 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 1: Madagascar abandoned their plantations. Real vanilla was not worth the 491 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,680 Speaker 1: cost of production to them. This happened in Mexico to 492 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 1: from the nineteen seventies on. Wages were so much higher 493 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,320 Speaker 1: institutions and oil industries there that yeah, vanilla production just 494 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,640 Speaker 1: did not make sense. That flipped when those big companies 495 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 1: like Nestlie started buying up pods again, as suddenly there 496 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,400 Speaker 1: wasn't nearly enough supply to meet demand and the price skyrocketed, 497 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: especially because all those farms had shut down and it 498 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,280 Speaker 1: can take three to five years for a new or 499 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: rebuilt production to start producing pods. This has created some 500 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:16,240 Speaker 1: really bizarre economic effects. The National Central Bank of Madagascar 501 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 1: actually ran out of the large bills that vanilla traders 502 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 1: used to pay farmers, with crops being stolen from fields, 503 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 1: some farmers harvesting pods too early to produce good quality vanaa, 504 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: and weather is still an issue, especially given the rate 505 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: at which climate change is messing up our weather patterns. Uh. 506 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: Cyclone that had Madagascar this March destroyed about a third 507 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: of the vanilla crop, pushing demand and prices even higher. 508 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 1: All of this means that some researchers are working on 509 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:50,680 Speaker 1: developing genetically modified orchids that would produce more vanilla to 510 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 1: help offset some of these fluctuations. And another interesting science thing, 511 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:01,040 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, two thousands six study found that vanilla was 512 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 1: effective in preventing bacteria quorum sensing, which is something bacteria 513 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:10,600 Speaker 1: do that coordinates behaviors like virulence and antibiotic resistance. So 514 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 1: scientists think that vanilla intake could be useful in preventing 515 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 1: bacterial pathogenesis. Yeah, very very very early, but still oh yeah, yeah, yeah, 516 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 1: it's coorum sensing is really fascinating. It's basically bacterial communication 517 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,360 Speaker 1: and lots of great implications there. That is, it was 518 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: really cool to run into you. Like I said, you 519 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: never know what a topic is going to take you. 520 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,640 Speaker 1: Who knew we'd be talking about bacteria coorum sensing in 521 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,400 Speaker 1: vanilla episode? Not me, But that brings us to the 522 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,160 Speaker 1: present with vanilla everywhere and all kinds of things and 523 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: our appetite for it apparently on ending. Yeah yeah, um 524 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 1: so that's the story of vanilla. It is. It is 525 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 1: quite a twisty turny one. Uh and kind of guys 526 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:53,880 Speaker 1: probably know. But the reason that at the beginning of 527 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 1: the podcast why vanilla is like vanilla, bland and distinct 528 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:00,200 Speaker 1: whatever is because it's it's everywhere, but also because it's 529 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,840 Speaker 1: usually that invitation stuff or not right. We've got a 530 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,240 Speaker 1: discussion with one of your friends about this, and he 531 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: had some strong feelings about how vanilla was very good 532 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: and not vanilla at all. Yeah, you gotta watch out 533 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 1: for cook industry. Food industry. Friends find they have opinions, 534 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: chefs have opinions. Sometimes it's weird, very weird. We have 535 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: arrived at the end of this classic episode. We hope 536 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:33,080 Speaker 1: you enjoyed it. Yes, yeah, it's a it's a wild 537 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 1: ride full of slavery and better times than that. Yes, yes, yes, 538 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 1: whis true? Um and also other things like why does 539 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 1: vanilla mean bland? It can be so much more than that. Right, 540 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: let's let's you know we said it, then I'm going 541 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: to say it again. Let's bring back the word vanilla. 542 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,400 Speaker 1: It shouldn't mean bland, and it should mean lovely and 543 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: rare and exciting and delicious. I think we can do this. Okay, 544 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:09,719 Speaker 1: I think we can do this, but your help, listeners, 545 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,720 Speaker 1: and if you want to email is about your efforts. 546 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,879 Speaker 1: You can. Our email is Hello at savor pod dot com. 547 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 1: We're also on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, 548 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:22,440 Speaker 1: and Instagram, where our handle is at savor pod and 549 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:25,000 Speaker 1: we do hope to hear from you. Savor is production 550 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,399 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, 551 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:29,920 Speaker 1: you can visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 552 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:32,480 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thank you 553 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,239 Speaker 1: to our super producers Dylan Vegan and Andrew Howard. Thanks 554 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:36,680 Speaker 1: to you for listening, and we hope that lots of 555 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:38,000 Speaker 1: more good things are coming your way